Clutch mechanism



Oct. 9,1923. I 1,470,268

J. LA'UTH CLUTCH ME CHANI SM Filed April 5o, 1920 a'sheefs-sheet 1 oct, 9, 1923. 1,470,268

J. LAUTH CLUTCH ME'cHANIsM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fave/razor k/COZ Za-Mgg,

Pateiriteclv Oct. 9,- 1923. l I

www STATES PATENT oFFicE.

y.recon LAUTH, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

cLU'rcH'MEoHANIsiu.

Application led Apri130, 1920. Serial Nc. 377,739.

.Tov @ZJ whom 'it may concer/n."

' vBe it known that I, JACOB' LATH, a citi- Y of the United States', residing at Chidrawingsvm Whichcago, in the county of' Cool; and State of Illinois, have `invented anew and useful Vimprovement in Clutch Mechanism, of

which' the followingV is a specification.

This v invention relates particularly to clutch mechanism adapted for automobile and inotor vehicle use; and the primary object is to provide improved clutch mecha- Anis'inof compact character. Additional 0b- 'jects are' to provide for increased levers. e in the `i=lutch mechanism, ready adjustabihty, and easyraecessibility to the parts.

Y The invention isillustratedfin its preferred vei'nloodinient in the ,accompanying Figure l` represents a y broken sectional 'view of'clutch :mechanism embodying V'the 'iiiventioii, the section being,r 'taken asindi-V cated atline l 'of `Fig.r2; Fig. 2,- a section taken as' indicated at. line 2 V'of Fig. l, ceremployedin connection with` the-y-'wheel the fly-wheel yisV equipped; B,

broken.r plan view-illustrating the manner in'which the fly-wheel of thefengine shaft is eipiiplpedV with bearings for the levers employed Y' 5 v' in the-"construction illustrated, A repre- RQ:

ein ine shaft A', A2 andA a pair of friction rings or claininng'niembei's'with which a shaft adapted to be actuated Vbythe'clutch .mechamsm, said shaft being equipped at its inner or front end with `a wheel B', the peripheral portion? of'fwhichfis interposed-between the clamping members A2 'and rA3', Cv,a series f 'levers having'their A4outer Yends,` pivotally connected with'a seetionally constructed ring A* 'which is rigidlyv secured to the adjacent vflange of the flywheel A, said levers beingl f provided near their pivoted ends with cams adapted to beaieagainst the clamping mein-V ber A3511), a housing member havingV its peripheral vportion engaging the outeredge of the sectional ring A4. andlsecuredjtherewith to the'fly-wheel; E, a sleeve slidable on the .shaft B, `saidsleevev having its inner ,end equipped with an integral collar E f provided with an annular groove which receives the .inner ends of the levers C, `said sleeve havin itsoutcr endequipped with a collar Ezya apted for connect-ion with a jecting ange 3 ofthe flywheel.

Vfly-wheel. tain of the segments 'of a sec-tional ring..

a wheel', such' as the'fly-wheel of'an yoke Yopera/ted by a foot-lever (not shown),

whereby the sleeverE `may be retracted to portion of the into radial recesses 2a which are cut in the A inner peripheral Wall of the'rearwardly pro- These clamping members are readily removable for renewal purposes. By reason of theirtenon connection with vthe {ly-wheel, they must rotate therewith; but'they are capable 'of shiftingin thedi're tion of the axis of the The sectional ring A4, which'scrves as the mean-s for connecting the levers VC with the fly-wheel,`preferably comprises segments 4 provided with bearings for the levers and segments '5 which alternate. with the 'segA ments 4 and serve to complete the ring. The

.sectienal ring A4, as has'been indicated.,

a'buts against the rearwardly presented fla-nge 3 of the ily-wheel and is secured to the flange 3 by cap-screws 6. However. thin segments of metal or shims, 7 are inlii''iosril between the segments 4 and the flange 3. EachA segment 4 is in the-form oi a block and Vof 'ya curvature corresponding with the cuiva'tureof the periphery of the fly-'wheel and having 'its end' portions cut away, at'the outeriside, as indicated at 4a.v` 'The segnnentsV v'are vcurved to correspond with thefcurvature" of the fiy-wheel fan-d ar'eIcut away the inner sides of' theirZ end 'portions toaccom- V inodate the reduced portions 4a of the segments 4. Thus` the segments 5 have reduced extensions 5a which overlie the reduced end portions 4a ofthe blocks 4. The central portions of the segmental blocks 4 are provided at their inner peripheral surfaces with radial slots vor recesses 4", the outerends of said slots being covered by bridges 4c.. The bolts G'serveto secure the segments and the shims to the flange 3 of the flyfwheel in a manner which Awill be readily understood from Fig. 3.

The outer ends of the levers'C extend into soY ies

i theV radi-al slots lll ,and are connected with pivots 8 :mounted inthe segmental blocks 4.

Thus, the pivots 8 lie in the plane ofthe flange 3 of the fly-wheel. "lhelevers C arek provided just inside the ring A* with cam` rotate with the Wheel B.

vThe inner end portions ofthe lever Care offset from the transverse plane whichcon-V tains the pivots 8, so as to engage the sleeve E, which is so positioned on the shaft B as to clear the hub of the wheel B and permit the necessary shiftingl movement of the sleeveY E longitudinally of the shaft B. In `practice,'the whole mechanism shown v,is ordinarily mounted in a stationary casa ingor housing (not shown). yAlso, in practice, the member E is actuated by a yoke which extends through the 'housing inenl tioned andis secured kvto theusual rock-shaft equipped with a foot-lever Snot shown).

The Vsleeve E slides free y .through the 1 hub portion ot the housing member. `D which aili'ords a bearing for the spring Fand the hub portion. of the member D is provided Y, with a suitable socket for the base end Vofthe spring;r F, andthe small end otzthe spring bearsagainst the collarE of `the sleeve E.

Thus, the spring normally forces the inner rends 'oit thelevers C towards the :fly wheel A,

causingr the clamping members Az'aud A to clamp the peripheral portion of the v,wheel y When desired, the clutch may bereleased byshifting thev sleeve E to the right from :the position shown in Fig. 1-anyfsuit-vable means being employed for the purpose.

VIt willbe noted that the-construction enables long levers to be used, and said levers have pivotalconnections only Vattheir outer Vends-these pivotal connections beingr located inthelplane ofthe flange 3 jofthe `fly-wheel.'` v

The construction Vpermits .theuse of a compaiatively-narrow fly-wheel, as yit is 'necessary onlyfto provide housing space within f the iange 3 forthe friction disks A2 and A and the 'interposed wheel B.- Moreover, the

bearinlfgs IO Vmay lbe disposed close tothe flange 3,`so that the short arms ofthe levers C may be reduced jand a long leverage obtained. The mechanisinfis exceedinglycoinf pact, measured alongtthe axis of the mecha-` nism; and, obviously, any desii'eddiameterf of'flv-wheel maybe adopted.

If, by reason etweal', it becomes necessary to adjust lthe levers, this may be effected-by taking out ythe bolts 6 and 'removing the shims 7it ,being noted that the levers can be adjusted by adjusting the sectionally constructed rin A* which constitutes, in effect, an. adjustab e exten-sion of thefflan'ge 3 of the fly-wheel.

The foregoing` detailed description has been given for `clearness of. understanding'v only and no unnecessary limitation should be understood .therefrom,.butjthe appended missible in view of the prior art. v

What I regard as new, and desire `to se?4 cure byLettejrs Patent, isf-,-

claim should :be construed as `broadly-as per-v fIn clutch mechanism, the combination of? awlieel'providedwith `a flange, a pair of'` shaft equipped with a wheel h avinnT its peV ripheral portion `interposed between said clamping-members, a ring comprising segi Vclamping membersencircledby said flange; j

mental blocks provided'with radial slots and segmental blocks alternating with .said irst.v

named blocks, levers having their outer ends' pivoted in .the Aslots of said first-named blocks, a housing` member havingv ahub portion through which said shaft extends, bolts connecting saidihousing .member and Vsaid' segmental blocks to ,the flange ofjsaid .'rstn named `\vlieel,a sleeve mounted on said shaft and yextending tlirough..tlie -hub `portion ol? said housingmeinben'said sleeve having its inner endequipped with abearing forsaid leversand its` outerend equippedjwith means for actuatingthesleeve, and aspiing,inter-V posed between .the Ihub' portion ofsaid housing vmembermndV the finner V,ends off said'V levers. v

ioo

'i JACOBLAUTH: 

